Development and validation of a Spanish language patient satisfaction questionnaire with drug dispensing.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and validate a specific questionnaire about patient satisfaction with drug dispensing at Spanish community pharmacies. METHOD: A self-administered semi-structured questionnaire was designed centered on the perception of the patients with the dispensing service. To validate this questionnaire, it was administered at Spanish community pharmacies, which voluntarily agreed to participate in the study for a period of 2 months (March and April 2006). Patients or caregivers who were able to read and write were included in the study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Scores of the items related to satisfaction with the dispensing service. RESULTS: The questionnaire consisted of: an introduction, 10 closed questions in an interval scale of five points, an open section to express comments, and finally demographic data of the patients. Twenty-seven community pharmacies participated in the validation, and 561 questionnaires were obtained with a response percentage of 56.5%. A Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.91 was obtained. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient was 0.92, and the extraction of the principal components revealed a unique component explaining 55.2% of the total variance. About 15.5% of patients made additional comments that praised the quality of attention received and other aspects of the service such as the amiability and friendliness shown by pharmacy staff. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire developed shows evidence of validity and reliability for evaluating patient satisfaction with the dispensing service in community Pharmacies in Spain.

Validación de un cuestionario de satisfacción de pacientes con el servicio de dispensación en farmacias comunitarias / Validation of a questionnaire on patient satisfaction with the dispensing service in community pharmacies

Objetivo. Analizar la validez y fiabilidad de un cuestionario de satisfacción de pacientes con el servicio de dispensación en las farmacias comunitarias argentinas. Diseño. Descriptivo, de corte transversal. Emplazamiento. Farmacias comunitarias de Argentina que voluntariamente aceptaron participar en el estudio. Participantes. Todos los pacientes o sus cuidadores que concurrieron a las farmacias durante el período de estudio (marzo y abril de 2006) y que supieran leer y escribir. Mediciones principales. Puntuaciones de la escala de satisfacción del cuestionario. Resultados. Participaron 27 farmacias, pertenecientes a 6 provincias de Argentina. Se consiguieron 473 cuestionarios, con un porcentaje de respuesta del 72,4%. El análisis factorial reveló un único componente que explicaba el 54,8% de la varianza total. Se obtuvo un coeficiente alfa de Cronbach de 0,90 y la correlación de Pearson entre cada uno de los ítems y la puntuación total de la escala mostró que todos los ítems están correlacionados entre sí (p < 0,01). Los pacientes expresaron comentarios adicionales en 124 cuestionarios (26,2%) que se relacionaron con la calidad de la atención recibida y con otros aspectos, tales como agradecimiento, coste de los medicamentos, insuficiente stock y amabilidad. Conclusiones. El cuestionario mostró evidencias de la validez de contenido, validez como estructura interna, validez relacionada con otras variables y fiabilidad para valorar la satisfacción de los pacientes con el servicio de dispensación en las farmacias comunitarias argentinas

Objective. To analyze the validity and reliability of a patient satisfaction questionnaire about drug dispensing in Argentine community pharmacies. Design. Descriptive, cross-sectional study. Setting. Community pharmacies of Argentina that voluntarily agreed to take part in the study. Participants. All patients or their careers who attended the pharmacies during the period of the study (March and April, 2006) and knew how to read and write. Main measurements. Scores on the satisfaction scale of the questionnaire. Results. Twenty-seven pharmacies from 6 provinces of Argentina took part; 473 questionnaires were obtained with a 72.4% response rate. Factorial analysis revealed one single component that explained 54.8% of total variance. A 0.90 Cronbach's alpha coefficient was obtained and Pearson's correlation between each of the items and the total score on the scale showed that all items correlated with each other (P<.01). Patients expressed additional comments in 124 questionnaires (26.2%). These concerned the quality of care received and other aspects, such as gratitude, cost of medicines, insufficient stock, and friendliness. Conclusions. The questionnaire, in showing evidence of content validity, validity as internal structure, validity related to other variables, and reliability, could assess patient satisfaction with the drug dispensing service in the community pharmacies of Argentina